Rep. Schiff: Thank you, speaker
bowers.
I want to look even more deeply
at the fake electors scheme.
Every four years, citizens from
all over the United States go to
the polls to elect their
president.
When we cast our votes, we are
voting to send electors pledged
to our preferred candidate to
the electoral college.
In December, electors in each
state meet, cast a vote and send
the votes to Washington.
There is only one legitimate
slate from each state.
On January 6, congress meets to
count the votes and the winner
becomes the president.
In this next segment, you will
hear how president trump in his
campaign -- and his campaign
were involved in coordinating
the plot to replace legitimate
Biden electors with fake
electors not chosen by the
voters and how this campaign
invents to fake electors to cast
their votes through's -- through
fake certificates to be used
only in the event that president
trump won his legal challenges.
Yet when he lost and courts
rejected them as frivolous, the
fake electors scheme continued.
President trump's own lawyers,
so-called team normal walked
away rather than participate in
the plan, and his white house
counsel's office said the plan
was not legally sound.
Let's play the following video
produced by the select
committee.
>> My name is Casey Lussier,
investigative counselor to
investigate the January 6
account on the United States
capital.
A lawyer working with the trump
campaign named Kenneth Chesebro
wrote a memo arguing the trump
campaign should organize its own
electors.
We received testimony those
close to president trump
organized fake electors in
states that Biden won weeks
after the election.
>> Who do you remember being
involved in those early
discussions around Thanksgiving
time regarding having alternate
electors meet?
>> Mr. Giuliani and his
associates, Mr. Meadows, members
of congress although it is
difficult to distinguish if the
members I'm thinking of were
involved in Thanksgiving or
involved as it progressed
through December.
>> At the president's request,
the RNC assisted.
>> What did he say when he
called you?
>> He turned the call over to
Mr. Eastman who proceeded to --
on the importance of the RNC
helping the campaign gadget --
gather contingent electors in
case the legal challenges
changed the result of any of the
states.
More of just helping them reach
out and assemble them but my
understanding was the campaign
did take the lead and we just
were helping them in that role.
>> Has president trump and his
supporters continued to lose
lawsuits, lawyers became
convinced that come -- convening
electors was no longer
appropriate.
>> I either replied or called
somebody saying unless we have
litigation pending in the states
I don't think this is
appropriate for this isn't the
right thing to do.
I don't remember how I phrased
it.
I had to do a little bit of a
back-and-forth but I think it
was with Ken Chesebro.
I said, all right, just get
after it.
I'm out.
>> At that point, I had Josh
I had Josh
email Mr. Chesebro
politely to say, this is your
task.
You are responsible for the
electoral college issues moving
forward.
And this was my way of taking
that responsibility to zero.
>> The committee learned the
white house counsel's office
found the plan potentially
illegal.
>> Did you hear the counsel's
office saying this plan to have
alternate electors meet and cast
votes for Donald Trump in states
that he had lost were not
legally sound?
>> Yes, sir.
>> And who was present for that
meeting that you remember?
>> Mr. Meadows, Mr. Giuliani,
and a few of Mr. Giuliani's
associates.
>> The select committee and
several of the fake electors as
well as trump campaign staff who
helped organize the effort.
>> Just kind of useful idiots at
that point.
A strong part of me really feels
it is kind of as the road
continued to failure, failure,
failure, that got formulated.
Let's just do it.
>> Now after what we have told
you today about the select
committee's investigation about
the conclusion of the
progression -- the
congressional lawyers and their
unwillingness to participate in
the convening of these electors,
how does that contribute to your
understanding of these issues?
>> I'm angry.
I'm angry.
Because I think in a sense no
one really cared if people were
potentially putting themselves
in jeopardy.
>> Would you have not wanted to
participate in this any further
as well?
>>>> I absolutely would not have
had I known the three main
lawyers for the campaign but I
have spoken to in the past and
leading up were not on board.
>> I was told that these would
only count if a court ruled in
our favor.
So if that would have been using
our electors -- it would have
been using our electors in ways
we were not told about and we
would not have supported.
>> Documents obtained by the
select committee indicate
instructions were given to the
electors in several states that
they needed to complete their
ballot and submit incomplete
secrecy.
Those participating in certain
states had no way to comply with
state election laws like where
the electors were supposed to
be.
One group of fake electors
considered hiding overnight to
make sure they could access the
state capital as required.
>> Did Mr. Norton say who he was
working with at all on this
effort to have electors meet?
>> He said he was working with
the president's campaign.
He told me that the Michigan
Republican electors were
planning to meet in the capitol
and hide overnight so that they
could fulfill the role of
casting their vote per law in
the Michigan chambers.
And I told him in no uncertain
terms that that was insane and
inappropriate.
>> In one state, the fake
electors even asked for a
promise that the campaign would
pay their legal fees if they got
sued or charged with a crime.
Ultimately, fake electors did
meet on December 14, 2020, and
Arizona, Georgia, Michigan,
Pennsylvania, New Mexico,
Nevada, and Wisconsin.
At the request of the trump
campaign, the electors from
these battleground states signed
documents falsely asserting that
they were the "Duly elected"
electors from their state and
submitted them to the national
archives and to vice president
pence.
Here is what some of the fake
electors certificates looked
like compared to the real ones.
But these ballots had no effect.
Dr. Eastman told a trump
campaign representative that it
did not matter that the electors
had not been approved by a state
authority.
"The fact that we have multiple
slaves of electors demonstrates
the uncertainty of either.
That should be enough."
He urged that pence act boldly
and be challenged.
Documents produced show that the
trump campaign took steps to
ensure physical copies of the
fake electors's electoral votes
from two states were delivered
to Washington for January 6.
Text messages exchanged between
several people showed that on
January for the trump campaign
asked for someone to fly there
fake electors documents to
Washington.
A staffer for Wisconsin senator
Ron Johnson texted a staffer
before the joint session.
The staffer said that they wish
to hand the fake votes from
Michigan to Wisconsin.
The eight under big Wesley
instructed them not -- the vice
president's aid urged them not
to.
The vice president held firm in
his position that his role was
to count lawfully submitted
electoral votes.
>> Joseph Biden junior of the
state of Delaware has received
306 votes.
Donald J. Trump of the state of
Florida has received 232 votes.
>> Which is what he did when a
joint session resumed on January
6 after the attack on the
capitol.
Rep. Schiff: What we just heard
in that video was an aide to the
white house chief of staff
telling this committee that the
white house counsel's office
felt like this fake electors
plan was not legally sound.
Nevertheless, the trump campaign
went forward with the scheme
anyway.
Speaker bowers, were you aware
fake electors had met in Phoenix
on December 14 and purported to
cast electoral votes for
president trump?
Rep. Bowers: I was not.
Rep. Schiff: When you learned
the electors had met and sent
the balance to Washington, what
did you think?
Rep. Bowers: Well, I thought of
the book "The gang that could
not shoot straight."
I just thought this is a tragic
parody.
Rep. Schiff: Mr. Bowers, I
understand that as you flew from
Phoenix to Washington yesterday,
he reflected upon some passages
from a personal journal that you
were keeping in December of 2020
while all of this was taking
place.
With your permission, I am
wondering if you would be
willing to share one passage in
particular with us.
Rep. Bowers: Thank you very
much.
It is painful to have friends
who have been such a help to me
turn on me with such rancor.
I am a in the eyes of men not
hold correct opinions or act
according to their vision or
convictions.
But I do not take this current
situation in a like manner, a
fearful manner, or a vengeful
manner.
I do not want to be a winner by
cheating.
I will not play with laws ice
were allegiance to.
With any contrived desire
towards deflection of my deep
foundational desire to follow
god's will as I believe he let
my conscience to embrace.
How else will I ever approach
him in the wilderness of life
knowing that I ask this guidance
only to show myself a coward in
defending the course he let me
take, he led me to take.
Rep. Schiff: Mr.
Speaker, those are powerful
words.
Understanding, the position you
took resulted in you and your
family being subjected to
protests and threats.
Can you tell us how this
impacted you and your family?
Rep. Bowers: Well, as others in
the videos have mentioned, we
received -- my secretaries would
say in excess of 20,000 emails
and tens of thousands of
voicemails and texts which
saturated our offices and we
were unable to work or at least
communicate.
But at home, up until even
recently, it is the new pattern
or the pattern in our lives to
wonder what will happen on
Saturdays because we have
various groups come by.
And they have had video panel
trucks with videos of me
proclaiming me to be a
pedophile, pervert, and a
corrupt politician.
And blaring loudspeakers in my
neighborhood.
And leaving literature both on
my property are and threatening
with neighbors and myself.
I don't know if I should name
groups, but there was one
gentleman that had the three
bars on his chest.
And he had a pistol and was
threatening my neighbor.
Not with the pistol, but just
vocally.
When I saw the gun, I knew I had
to get close.
And at the same time, on some of
these we had a daughter who was
gravely ill, who was upset by
what was happening outside.
My wife, that is a valiant
person.
Very, very strong, quiet, very
strong woman.
So it was disturbing.
Just disturbing.
Rep. Schiff: Mr. Speaker, I want
to thank you for your service to
the state of Arizona and the
country.